During his 57 years in Congress, longtime U.S. Sen. Carl Hayden, R-Ariz., often related what a colleague in the U.S. House told him after he gave his maiden speech. “If you want to get ahead here, you have to be a work horse and not a show horse,” a congressman told Hayden and the Arizona Republican took that advice to heart.

When do you need to hire a lobbyist or government relations professional? That can be a tricky decision, especially for small-business owners. Looking back, Mike Cikacz wishes he had made the decision sooner.